Avonia Quinaria Seeds

[Euphorbus]

Hello everyone,

I hope all is well with all members of this forum in these difficult and unusual times.

I'm wondering if anyone has any fresh seeds of avonia quinaria ssp. quinaria (or alstonii) that they'd be willing to send/sell me?

I don't usually make requests like this but I've been wanting to have a go at these for a long while and seed is so difficult to come by (even on certain auction sites and well-respected seed repositories).

I had a quick look at the seed pool here on the forum, but I can't see any of these listed, so I thought I'd cast a net out.

Thanks in advance for any replies or advice.

[iann]

I'm pretty sure I've got some old seed. It was going to go to the seed pool, but I don't think I ever sent it. I haven't tickled any flowers this year, so I don't think there is any fresh.

[Euphorbus]

Hi iann,

I'd be happy to have a go at germinating those seeds, especially if the alternative is them going in the bin

[Terry S.]

If you wait until winter, there is a good chance that they will appear on the BCSS seed list. One member in particular does a lot of pollination of his A. quinaria and donates it. I haven't done the necessary double-blind cross-over studies, but I have a feeling that Anacampseros seed is relatively short lived. I have a two and a bit year old seedling in flower at the moment with just three stems and a caudex that is a couple of mm across. It amazes me that a species that is so slow-growing can start to flower at such a young age.

[Euphorbus]

That's good to know, thanks Terry

[iann]

Well that's embarrassing. I don't have any A. quinaria seed. Maybe I sent it to the seed list, it would be unusual for me to have thrown it away. And none on the plants this year. I'll have to have a go at any late flowers that are still to come.

Various Anacampseros seed is often described as short-lived but I've not had any that got too old and didn't work any more, and I've had some that didn't germinate well the first year I collected it. A. quinaria though seems to germinate very well straight off the plants in the heat of summer.

[Euphorbus]

No worries iann, thanks for looking

I'm assuming that, since they're so slow-growing, the seeds/seedlings should be treated much like aztekium (i.e. longer-than-average in the bag). Please correct me if that's a terrible mistake in judgement

[iann]

No worries iann, thanks for looking

I'm assuming that, since they're so slow-growing, the seeds/seedlings should be treated much like aztekium (i.e. longer-than-average in the bag). Please correct me if that's a terrible mistake in judgement

Not really slow-growing. Definitely not as slow as Aztekium. And I wouldn't grow them in a bag, at least not for long. They can flower in their second year, albeit only on one or perhaps two stems. The caudex takes a while to become noticeable, but it will be there from day one. It takes decades to form the monsters that you might have seen.

I've started them in summer, just sow the seeds on top of the soil and stand it in water. If it is hot enough, they'll germinate almost immediately and you can stop soaking them but keep them moist until the first stem appears from the little green blob. I've also started them in winter, in a bag, and left them in the bags for a few weeks. The first stem will show up in a few weeks, maybe a couple of months. Once they have stems, they're pretty tough.

[Euphorbus]

Thanks for setting me straight iann, that’s a big help

I assume the seedlings will grow with their little caudexes buried, so at what age do you start raising them? (I’m thinking about risk of rot versus slower growth.)

[iann]

The caudex will naturally show above the surface. You can raise it as and when you like, but mostly just leave it where it wants to be.